Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects Forum

(Seek and share information about clerkship applications, clerkship hiring timelines, and post-clerkship employment opportunities)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about clerkship applications and clerkship hiring. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
username5101520

New
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2022 6:18 pm

Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects

Post by username5101520 » Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:35 pm

For federal dist. and fedmag clerkships, obviously some carry more resume value, and open up more employment doors, than others (e.g. SDNY, DDC, etc.).

Within districts that have multiple courthouses, do people think there is a difference, employment-prospects-wise, between the main courthouse and the satellite courthouses? E.G., SDNY manhattan v. SDNY White Plains?

Disclaimer: Clerking is valuable for reasons besides added resume value. Location preferences vary widely between individuals. One should not decide which clerkship to take or apply to based solely on resume value.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428113
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:47 pm

I think anyone would be incredibly lucky to get a clerkship in SDNY at all, regardless of which courthouse.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428113
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Jan 27, 2023 7:49 pm

if somebody has a preference for clerks from one courthouse in a district but not the other, and that reason is not directly related to specific judge(s), then they out themselves as a prestige-chasing psychopath obsessed with delineation to an unhealthy degree. run far away

Anonymous User
Posts: 428113
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:16 pm

Disagree with the former. Cases in federal courts are assigned by division (i.e. courthouse), so judges in different divisions can have very different pools of cases. The specific rules for this are usually found in courts’ standing orders. For example, White Plains only gets cases filed in the suburbs, not the city. And it gets even more notable when you consider e.g. the Texas district courts, which have some extremely urban and some extremely rural divisions, and some divisions with extremely unbalanced case loads due to forum shopping.

With SDNY in particular, in general I think Manhattan does have more pull than White Plains, but that’s largely because Manhattan has more prominent judges. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from applying, and there are some great clerkships in White Plains (Karas).

Anonymous User
Posts: 428113
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Intra-District Difference In Job Prospects

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:46 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:16 pm
Disagree with the former. Cases in federal courts are assigned by division (i.e. courthouse), so judges in different divisions can have very different pools of cases. The specific rules for this are usually found in courts’ standing orders. For example, White Plains only gets cases filed in the suburbs, not the city. And it gets even more notable when you consider e.g. the Texas district courts, which have some extremely urban and some extremely rural divisions, and some divisions with extremely unbalanced case loads due to forum shopping.

With SDNY in particular, in general I think Manhattan does have more pull than White Plains, but that’s largely because Manhattan has more prominent judges. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from applying, and there are some great clerkships in White Plains (Karas).
Agree with this. Clerkship prestige whoring is generally stupid and the "gold star" of having SDNY on your resume is equal either way, but you will get a more interesting caseload in Manhattan than in White Plains. Same with Brooklyn over Central Islip for EDNY.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Judicial Clerkships”